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Pip’s Plants - SUMMER 2008

As always you can still pop into your local Hillier Garden Centre and pick the plants up although I do advise you to call in advance if you are making a special journey as these plants do sell out quickly - all the plants are available on our online shop CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

kingfisher Every now and then I see a plant and must have it. My first plant is one of these. While competing in a flower arranging competition in Harrogate last summer I visited the RHS garden at Harlow Carr. In the garden centre they had the most exquisite blue clematis I have ever seen. It instantly became my mission to get it for you. It turned out to be a new introduction from world famous clematis expert Raymond Evison.

The flowers are large, up to 7 inches across, and remind me a little of that old favourite Lasurstern but in a much richer deeper blue. The colour is vibrant, glowing, royal blue with white chocolate coloured anthers. Just imagine it growing through white, cream or pink climbing roses on a wall or pergola.

It will give you two seasons of flower, firstly in May and June then again in August and September. Clematis love feeding and so a topdressing with controlled release fertiliser in February and August ensures a great crop of flowers every year.

clematis rebecca Don’t panic about pruning, you don’t have to prune it at all. If it outgrows its space then just give it a quick trim after the first set of flowers. Kingfisher will be found on our new Raymond Evison Clematis display. Each centre has a new area this year devoted to hybrids raised by Raymond. Classics like Josephine and Petit Faucon will rub shoulders with new varieties such as the gorgeous Cassis and this year’s Chelsea launch Rebecca.

Rebecca is a smouldering rich velvety red; it loves the sun, unlike other reds and flowers incredibly freely. Look out for the blue livery of the Raymond Evison Collection; the varieties will change throughout the year offering the very best in new and recent introductions.

callistemon citrinus splendens.jpg Chelsea always has its stars and press attention concentrates on the new plants but the public find their own favourites every year and inevitably Callistemon comes into this group. Callistemon citrinus ‘Splendens’ is a staple at Chelsea and the sensational red bottlebrush flowers cause a real stir. They give a really Mediterranean feel to the planting.

The flowers benefit from being at eye level and one way to achieve this is with half standard plants. My top tip for callistemons is to prune them immediately after flowering promote more flowering wood for the next year.

minired If you think you don’t have room for a callistemon then you are wrong. Callistemon masoti Minired is a new variety from Italy, which is extremely compact, ideal for a pot on the terrace, and unusually it repeat flowers through the season. We had flowers on them as early as February on the nursery. It is fabulous at livening up a group of architectural evergreens without being too fussy or diluting the exotic feel. Again it is good to see the flowers at closer quarters so a long tom pot, one that is much taller than it is wide, is perfect for these.

figs Another exotic pot subject is Ficus carica, the fruiting fig. The big bold foliage is fabulous for creating an exotic feel. As it needs its roots restricted to fruit well it is perfect in a big pot. Use John Innes No 3 in the pot and cover the top of the compost with a layer of stones or gravel to stop the compost drying out in the hot weather. We have a complete collection of figs including Continental, Black Neck Lady and Pinet with black fruits and Neck Lady White with white fruits, all of which are packed with fibre and high in calcium. The fruit is produced right up the ends of each stem so a plant like ours with several shoots will give you more fruit right from the start.

My top tip for figs is to remove all fruit bigger than a pea in the spring. These are immature fruits from the end of last season and will never grow to be mature fruits. This years fruits are tiny embryos inside the buds just raring to get going. Removing the immature fruits allows the energy to be concentrated on the viable young embryo and ensures you have a delicious crop of fresh figs to enjoy in late summer. Just imagine eating fresh figs sun-warmed from the tree…

Pip's Plants SPRING 2008

Rosa ‘Brighter Tomorrow’
We all have a cause that is close to our hearts and for me it is Alzheimer’s Society. Many of you will be familiar with Alzheimer’s and the devastating effect it has on those you love the most. The Alzheimer’s Society work in two ways, not only funding ground breaking research into the disease but also looking after those suffering from the disease and most importantly the wonderful family members who care for them.

Looking after a loved one with this terrible disease be a lonely and testing job but the Alzheimer’s Society provides an invaluable network of support at every level, for everyone touched by it. To continue this amazing work the society needs your help, it is not as glamorous or as instantly appealing a cause as many and so fund raising is much tougher for them.

You can make a difference to someone’s life today by buying the new Alzheimer’s Rose ‘Brighter Tomorrow’. Launched by world-famous floral designer Judith Blacklock it is raising funds to look after those suffering with the disease and their carers.

Brighter Tomorrow is a fabulously scented, full petalled, cluster flowering rose. The colour is a lovely unusual shade that is somewhere between deep pink and red. It is a strong tough rose that would make a great contribution in the mixed border or even make a short hedge. It grows to 60cm and flowers all summer; just give it a feed with TopRose in February and July.

Every rose that you buy will raise £1 for the society and will make a real difference to someone’s life. Perhaps you have lost someone through Alzheimer’s or you have a friend or family member suffering now; buying a rose will extend a helping hand to someone in the same situation.

Lonicera ‘Cedar Lane’
Lonicera sempervirens is a great choice for small gardens but I think that the reason that it is often overlooked is that it gets confused with it’s more famous red flowered offspring ‘Dropmore Scarlet’. This is a cross with L. brownii and disappointingly has not inherited any scent. Sempervirens on the other hand has a fabulous scent and as its species name suggests is semi-evergreen.

What bought it to my attention were two gorgeous selections from the USA that we were able to trial last year: L. sempervirens ‘Cedar Lane’ and ‘John Clayton’. ‘Cedar Lane’ is sure to catch your eye first, it has dark red tubular blooms and blue green foliage flushed with plum. It is such a striking combination that it will be a real showstopper in the garden. As with its parent it is a richly scented climber and has really pretty clusters of clear red berries snuggled in amongst the flowers and foliage.

Lonicera ‘John Clayton’
‘John Clayton’ plays second fiddle initially as it is a more subtle combination but comes into its own as you have time to appreciate it. The long tubular flowers are a delightful, clear, soft yellow and the foliage is clear bright green – this is certainly not a brash plant, it has class stamped right through it. It is a selection from plants growing wild in a churchyard in Abington, Virginia in a churchyard in Abington. The big bonus comes as the berries start to form and mix in amongst the flowers, the yellow, green and red together give a lovely fresh appearance and would be great in a bright clean, sunny, colour scheme. I can see it planted among cream or white painted woodwork in the garden.

Both honeysuckles cover an area about 2 metres square and will grow in sun or shade. To get the best flowering it likes to have its feet in “woodland” conditions with its head in the sun. It will take dryer soil but it will not flower as freely so add plenty of organic matter when planting. As with all honeysuckles it loves plenty of air circulating round it so it is best on free-standing structures like arches and pergolas or if grown as a screen use trellis not fence panels.

Rhododendron ‘Goldflimmer’ and ‘Silver Edge’
Winter colour is essential in any garden and now is a good time to really see the gaps in borders. My final two plants will fill those gaps with evergreen colour as well as giving you flowers in May and June. They are two variegated rhododendrons called ‘Goldflimmer’ and ‘Silver Edge’.

There is no excuse nowadays for not growing Rhododendrons even if you are on chalk. Don’t mess around digging pits and putting ericaceous compost in the hole (especially as this doesn’t work). All you need to do is to get hold of some sensible sized containers, fill them with John Innes Ericaceous Compost and pop the pot in the border on top of the soil. Of course if you are lucky enough to have acid soil you can just look smug and plant them directly into the soil!

So what is the difference between the two? ‘Silver Edge’ has a gentler colouring with a slim, creamy margined leaf and lavender flowers with orange markings. ‘Goldflimmer’ is a more recently discovered, brighter variety with chunkier leaves emblazoned with a bright gold flare down the middle and lavender flowers with a yellow flash.

Both varieties are often placed among green foliage to “liven it up” but I think that they work even better planted in a gold and purple colour scheme. Variegated rhododendrons lighten the effect of strong gold foliage while the lavender flowers look fabulous against the gold and can be echoed with mauve pansies or vincas and gorgeous alliums. Thread a late flowering Clematis viticella like Etoile Violette through it and you have year-round colour!

As easy as 1, 2….
Now you know WHAT you need to buy, all you have decide is HOW to buy it! You can either:
1. Buy these plants at your local Hillier Garden Centre
2. Visit our online shop at www.hillier.co.uk and place your order over the internet and we will deliver them direct to you.

Rosa ‘Brighter Tomorrow’ (Alzheimer’s Rose) 8.99
Lonicera sempervirens ‘Cedar Lane’ 11.99
Lonicera sempervirens ‘John Clayton’ 11.99
Rhododendron ‘Goldflimmer’ 19.99
Rhododendron ‘Silver Edge’ 19.99

PIP'S PLANTS AUTUMN 2007 - still available in our online shop

heuchera peach flambe Heuchera ‘Peach Flambé’ (£7.49) is the latest in the “Sweet Delights” range, which includes the other classics ‘Key Lime Pie’, ‘Liquorice’ and Crème Brulee’. It has the base rich toffee colour of ‘Crème Brulee’ but with a vibrant flush of peachy pink to the large, young, ruffled leaves. The evergreen foliage and low habit of growth makes it ideal as ground cover or as the lowest plant at the front of the border.

Skimmia Skimmia ‘Magic Marlot’ (£9.99) is a more compact form of ‘Rubella’, reaching 40cm. The flower buds are green all through the autumn, changing to red over the winter, opening to sweetly scented, cream flushed pink flowers in spring. Skimmias usually grow best in shade but having this variegation we think that this variety will benefit from semi shade.

This is the first ever variegated Skimmia and we have a limited number available in a 1 litre pot! The leaves are edged with rich gold when they are young, fading to soft cream as they age. The centre of the leaves also have a delicate silver marbling that gives the whole plant the appearance of having silver foliage from a distance.

Photinia ‘Red Robin’ has to be one of the best sellers on every garden centre and it really does do well. In small gardens like mine however it is difficult to take advantage of this fantastic plant without having to trim it regularly.

tranny gaultheria procumbens 1.jpg One plant that gives wonderful winter colour is Gaultheria procumbens (£7.49) or wintergreen. This is an evergreen creeping plant with dark green rounded aromatic leaves that flush with red as the weather gets colder. Our particular form of this plant has been carefully selected from successive crops of seedlings to give a form with really large berries.

The one down side is that loves a moist acid soil and this is something that not many gardens have. Now, I can hear you saying “well that’s no good for me” but this plant does really well in a pot planted in John Innes Ericaceous soil. Try planting it with silver foliaged evergreens for a wonderful festive look in a richly coloured glazed pot.

rubus silver fern If you have the space to allow Rubus thibetianus ‘Silver Fern’ (£7.49)to grow then it is a spectacular addition to the garden. In summer it has really pretty pinnate, fern-like foliage in silver grey with small purple flowers. In winter the leaves fall to reveal frosty white, upright stems reaching up to 2 metres. The great thing about this variety is that it has an upright habit and so fits really well into an all year round border.